For much of the AI rally, investors focused on the most obvious winners: Nvidia, the company selling the picks and shovels of the new computing rush, Microsoft and Amazon, the landlords of the cloud, or Alphabet and Meta, the giants trying to turn AI into products and profits. But AI needs chips, power, servers, factories, packaging, and, crucially, memory. A model that cannot move and store data quickly is not a genius. It is just a very expensive intern staring at a spreadsheet.

That is why Micron and SK Hynix have suddenly become central characters in the market's favorite story. Micron is up 860% over one year. SK Hynix is up roughly 1,000%. Micron closed last night at $896 after jumping 20% in a single session. Two years ago, the average analyst price target for Micron was $145, below where the stock traded at the time. That is a useful reminder that Wall Street's crystal ball is often just a snow globe with better lighting.

The broader market reaction was telling. The Nasdaq 100 closed at a record 30,001 points, up 1.8%, largely because of semiconductors. Apple, Microsoft, and Amazon actually slipped. The Dow Jones fell 0.2%. This was not a general celebration of corporate America. It was a targeted bet on the machinery behind AI.

There are 13 companies worldwide above the $1 trillion level: 10 American, two Korean - Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix - and one Taiwanese, TSMC. The club is almost entirely technological. Berkshire Hathaway remains the great exception, though even Warren Buffett's empire has had some help from big stakes in Apple and Alphabet. 

The newest members have something else in common: They have been pulled upward by AI. Broadcom is moving toward $2 trillion. TSMC, Samsung, Micron, and SK Hynix are no longer treated as ordinary semiconductor businesses. They are being revalued as AI infrastructure companies.

Memory chips have historically been a brutal business. Demand surges, companies overbuild, prices fall, margins shrink, and investors remember why the sector was considered cyclical in the first place. Micron and SK Hynix traded at low multiples because history had taught investors not to get too comfortable. But the AI boom is challenging that old logic. Investors are betting that demand for high-performance memory will not follow the usual cycle. They believe AI will require so much computing capacity, for so long, that memory makers can enjoy stronger pricing, higher margins, and a less punishing business model. Maybe this really is a supercycle.

The striking part is that, despite their wild gains, these companies do not look outrageously expensive by traditional measures. Nvidia trades at about 17.2 times expected 2027 earnings. TSMC is around 19 times. Micron is at 7.3 times. SK Hynix is even lower, near 5.05 times. So the market's enthusiasm is not simply a matter of investors paying any price for any company with "AI" nearby.

Iran remains the main geopolitical risk in today's session, but markets are still treating it as a problem to monitor rather than a reason to panic. The situation is unresolved: Trump says a deal is close, yet no agreement has been reached, and talks aimed at ending the war remain fluid. He is meeting his Cabinet today, which keeps the issue firmly in focus. 

Today's economic highlights:

See the full calendar here.

  • Dollar index: 99.075
  • Gold: $4,489
  • Crude Oil (BRENT): $97.85 (WTI) $89.75
  • United States 10 years: 4.47%
  • BITCOIN: $75,833

In corporate news:

Analyst Recommendations:

  • Ecolab Inc.: UBS upgrades to buy from neutral and raises the target price from USD 293 to USD 325.
  • Fedex Corporation: JP Morgan upgrades to overweight from neutral and raises the target price from USD 432 to USD 460.
  • Gxo Logistics, Inc.: Barclays upgrades to overweight from equalweight and raises the target price from USD 58 to USD 65.
  • Rpm International Inc.: UBS upgrades to buy from neutral and raises the target price from USD 118 to USD 130.
  • Sandisk Corporation: Barclays upgrades to overweight from equalweight with a price target raised from USD 1200 to USD 2300.
  • Westlake Corporation: Citi downgrades to neutral from buy and reduces the target price from USD 125 to USD 95.
  • Workday Inc.: Daiwa Securities upgrades to buy from outperform with a price target raised from USD 160 to USD 170.
  • Zscaler, Inc.: Evercore ISI downgrades to in-line from outperform and reduces the target price from USD 225 to USD 155.
  • Analog Devices, Inc.: CITIC Securities Co Ltd maintains its add recommendation and raises the target price from USD 295 to USD 450.
  • Applied Digital Corporation: Texas Capital maintains its buy recommendation and raises the target price from USD 40 to USD 65.
  • Dollar General: Truist Securities maintains its hold recommendation and reduces the target price from USD 139 to USD 109.
  • Dollar Tree, Inc.: Truist Securities maintains its buy recommendation and reduces the target price from USD 142 to USD 107.
  • Elf Beauty: TD Cowen maintains its buy recommendation and reduces the target price from USD 90 to USD 65.
  • Humana Inc.: Oppenheimer maintains its outperform rating and raises the target price from USD 260 to USD 340.
  • Intuit Inc.: Daiwa Securities maintains its buy recommendation and reduces the target price from USD 640 to USD 500.
  • Micron Technology, Inc.: Barclays maintains its overweight recommendation and raises the target price from USD 675 to USD 1175.
  • Palo Alto Networks, Inc.: Berenberg maintains its buy recommendation and raises the target price from USD 215 to USD 290.
  • Seagate Technology Holdings Plc: Barclays maintains its overweight recommendation and raises the target price from USD 750 to USD 1000.
  • Western Digital Corporation: Barclays maintains its overweight recommendation and raises the target price from USD 450 to USD 620.